California man convicted, partner acquitted, of drug charges

Friday

A California man who was stopped by Missouri state troopers on I-44 in Newton County in 2006 was found guilty in federal court Wednesday of attempting to distribute PCP and cocaine.

A California man who was stopped by Missouri state troopers on I-44 in Newton County in 2006 was found guilty in federal court Wednesday of attempting to distribute PCP and cocaine.

His passenger was acquitted of similar charges in the same trial.

Marzett L. Parker, 37, San Francisco, was found guilty by a federal jury of participating in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of PCP and possession with the intent to distribute large quantities of PCP and cocaine.

This conviction stems from a seizure of the illegal narcotics in a highway stop in Newton County, which at the time was the largest recorded seizure of PCP in the United States.

According to a written release from U.S. Attorney John F. Wood, with the Western District of Missouri, Parker was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute PCP from March 14 to 31, 2006. He was also found guilty of possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP and one count of possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

A passenger in the tractor trailer, Odell Edwards, 38, of California, was acquitted in the same trial.

Don Ledford, a spokesman for Wood, said the judge set aside the conspiracy count against Edwards and the jury acquitted him of the rest of the charges.

Parker was arrested on March 30, 2006, after Missouri State Highway Patrol commercial motor vehicle inspectors stopped a 2000 Peterbilt tractor driven by Parker, which was pulling a 1994 Boyd car-hauler trailer containing three vehicles, for a commercial motor vehicle compliance inspection at the eastbound weigh station on Interstate 44 in Newton County.

During the inspection, which revealed several administrative and mechanical deficiencies, the officer became suspicious about the purpose of the travel. During a search of the tractor-trailer and vehicles, officers found 40 one-gallon-sized tin cans containing phencyclidine (PCP). Those cans were placed in two cardboard boxes, which were in a 2001 Ford Excursion located on the trailer. Officers also found 12 kilogram-sized packages of cocaine in the dash of a 1995 Nissan Quest van, which was also located on the tractor-trailer.

Carthage Press

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